Red Sox Reportedly Set to Fire Manager Bobby Valentine

After a disastrous 2012 campaign, both on and off the field, the Boston Red Sox are reportedly ready to fire manager Bobby Valentine, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.

UPDATE: Thursday, September 4 at 12:54 a.m. ET by Ian Hanford

The Boston Globe reporter Peter Abraham followed up Heyman's report with some words from Valentine's perspective:

Valentine took a long look at the field from the top step of the dugout when the game ended before speaking briefly to his players. His postgame press conference was a study in restraint.

Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said “I’m not going to talk about it," when asked about Valentine's status.

Valentine said about the season that it was a “Very disappointing season, extremely disappointing. I don’t know how it could be more challenging than this season."

He obviously knows the current situation, but claims that his "life will be fine."

---End of Update---

Valentine, who is expected to be fired Thursday or Friday, has seen the Red Sox go 69-92 heading into the final game of the season against the New York Yankees on Wednesday.

The problems started right away, with Valentine questioning longtime fan favorite Kevin Youkilis' desire early on and the Red Sox going 11-11 in April.

The Red Sox stayed above water through June, but began to sink quickly in July, going 12-14. By the end of a 9-20 August, they were basically done, and they bested last September's 7-20 record with a 7-21 record this September.

Beyond the poor play on the field, which resulted in management trading Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett, there were plenty of off-the-field distractions.

Gonzalez and second baseman Dustin Pedroia, among others, approached management about Valentine before the trade deadline (per Yahoo! Sports), and the 62-year-old also infamously blew up on The Big Show radio host Glenn Ordway in early September.

That was before he told Ordway on Wednesday that he felt he was undermined by the coaches throughout the season, per WEEI.com.

It would be no surprise if the Red Sox fired Valentine soon. It was a long time coming for a franchise that has lost its way since winning the World Series in 2007.

In terms of winning percentage, this is Boston's worst season since 1965, when the club went 62-100 (the Red Sox won 54 games in 1994, but that was in the strike-shortened season).